


Holiday Meetings

by Drappersky



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Being Lost, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Cold Weather, Domestic Avengers, Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Happy Ending, M/M, Secret Santa, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 23:36:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17253500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drappersky/pseuds/Drappersky
Summary: Steve and Bucky go to a "magical" Christmas tree farm up state. Steve gets lost in the snow, Bucky freaks out and they find everyone but who they're looking for. Happy Holiday's :)





	Holiday Meetings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Halbereth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halbereth/gifts).



> Made for the capsecretsanta on tumblr.

Steve kissed the top of Bucky’s head, signaling he was on the way to bed. 

“So, are we going to put up a tree this year?” Bucky asked, looking up from the book he was reading. 

It was a week into December and they hadn’t really talked about decorating or holiday plans. They were never Christmas fanatics but they usually enjoyed the warm fuzzy, anticipatory feeling that decorating, carols and the Christmas spirit provided. With both their families were gone or too far away to include, they had to make their own magic at this time of year. 

“Of course, we are,” Steve stated, walking around the edge of the couch and sitting next to Bucky. “I’ve been so busy lately, I didn’t even realize how close to the holidays it was. Time just flies, doesn’t it?” They both worked demanding jobs that only seemed to get busier as it got closer to the end of the year. “Let’s go someplace special this year, since we’ve missed out on some time already. I heard there is a great place upstate where you can pick and cut down your own tree. It’s outa the way, but it supposed to be pretty damn magical.”

Bucky smiled at Steve’s description of what he guessed to be a tree farm. They had just recently moved and the new place still felt kind of empty, even though all the boxes were unpacked. They finally had a fireplace and room to set up a tree by the living room window. He was glad Steve wanted something a little more special this year.

Heck, if they knew more people, they could probably host a small Christmas party now. Getting a freshly cut tree with Steve seemed like a great idea and a step in the right direction to making their house feel more like a home.

The next day they both took off work, hopped into Bucky’s SUV and headed upstate. Stepping out of the house, the sky was clear and the temperature was almost nice, for December. 

On the long ride, they tuned in a station that played all the Christmas classics and hummed along to most of them. The music was interrupted halfway to their destination by a weather forecast, with talk about a snowstorm beginning that evening. It hadn’t snowed enough this winter to stick around yet, but it seemed like this storm would give them a white Christmas. Things appeared to be coming together for a wonderful holiday season.

Following their nav system’s directions, they made it to the small town listed as the tree farm’s address, but small wooden signs directed them out of town.

“Geez, Steve how far out of the way is this place?” Bucky asked, realizing his phone no longer had any signal. They continued driving, knowing they were going in the right direction only by the occasional tree farm sign near the side of the gravel road. Everything they past, trees, cars, buildings and the ground had a frosty glow about them that caught the light is a captivating way.

By the time they pulled into the parking lot, the temperature had dropped drastically. As they exited the warmth of the vehicle, the air was so sharp it hurt to take a large breath. 

Bucky put on all his winter clothes; hat, gloves and scarf. He was glad that he had opted for a heavier coat for this trip; with a metal arm you don’t go into any kind of cold unprepared. Zipping his coat all the way up, he turned to Steve, who had an ax in one hand and a pair of work gloves in his pocket. His coat, although warm, was not zipped up and he’d left all his other gear in the backseat.

Bucky looked skeptically at an enthusiastic, but underdressed Steve. 

“You’re not going to take your hat or anything?” His breath forming misty clouds as he spoke. 

“You know I run warm and we are going to be exercising, cutting down a tree and dragging it back. I’ll be fine.” He said, jogging off towards a building set up on one side of the parking lot that stated the prices, in relation to the size of each tree, and rules about picking and chopping one down. It was little more than a shack with an attendant sitting next to a space heater and register inside. 

Yes, Steve would probably be just fine. He was a literal furnace in bed, but Bucky never would stop worrying about the punk in cold weather. A cold draft used to knock Steve on his ass for a month when they were kids, but now things were very different. Bucky shook himself out of his bemused thoughts; they would pick out a tree and be back in no time. He should enjoy this.

It seemed like there were quite a few families getting help securing trees to their cars and heading out. Children ran around squealing. Parents tried to get everyone back into the car. By the time they started off into the tree grove, there were only three cars left in the lot and it was a lot quieter. The paths were clear and marked. The frozen ground crunched under their feet with ice. 

They had varying types of spruce and pine trees to choose from. Bucky and Steve ended up walking quite a way before they decided on a spruce instead of a pine; a tall and thin tree, not a short and wide one. Finding a densely packed group of spruces of about the same size, they perused each, looking for the most symmetrical one with no holes. 

Finding the perfect tree, they stopped and took a long look, satisfied in their choice and realizing that out in the middle of nowhere the silence was almost all encompassing. It made Bucky realize he hadn’t seen or heard a single person the whole time they had been out in the evergreen grove. It lent to the charm of the place, them alone, with the trees going on forever. 

They started cutting down their chosen spruce, switching who chopped. While Bucky and Steve worked, the sunlight dissipated quickly clouds rolling in. They’d just started to work up a sweat when a freezing wind cut through the trees, rustling branches together, knocking off frosty ice that stung as it was thrown in their faces. 

It started to snow lightly; big fluffy flakes that clung to everything. They took a break to watch it come down, playfully catching a few on their tongues. 

“Okay, yeah, maybe this place is kinda magical.” Bucky whispered, grinning at Steve. 

One last chop and the tree was down, falling into the snow that now covered the ground lightly. “Guess that snowstorm came earlier than the forecast predicted.” Bucky mused.

Steve’s whole body shivered as another blast of wind hit him in the face and blew down his coat against his sweaty shirt. His nose and ears were red and his hands were buried in his pockets, even though he still had his gloves on.

“Cold?” He asked.

“No….. well, not bad.”

Bucky huffed out a warm breath that froze as it hit the air. Removing his hat and scarf, Bucky tucked the warm fabric around Steve’s neck and pulled the hat down over his ears. Lifting up the hood on the sweatshirt he was wearing under his coat, he stepped back. 

“Look, give me the ax and I’ll head back now, pay for the tree and get the car ready. You just get the tree to the car. We can head back home and hopefully be on a main road before things get bad.”

\------

Bucky made good time through the snow. He was definitely cold without his hat, but he made it back to the parking lot before it became uncomfortable. He paid for the tree they had picked and ended up getting a wreath for the front door too. 

Going out to warm up the car and put the wreath in the back, he noticed the signposts among the trees marking the path were getting hard to see in the storm. The snow stuck to them, covering the row numbers and making them impossible to read. He cleaned the snow off the car, though it was a bit of a losing battle with how fast the snow was coming down.

Where was Steve? It was taking too long for him to show up. The snow and wind had only gotten worse while he waited, in the now warm vehicle and it was hard to see past even the first row of trees now. Was he lost? 

Getting out of the car, he tried to see through the snow and into the grove. Alone in the cold, he started to worry.  
The guy who manned the shack came over. Bucky remembered his name was Bruce. 

“Hey, we’re going to be closing early because of the snow and how far it is to the main road. Need anything before we shut up shop?” 

“Steve is still out there bringing in the tree.” Bucky said, not looking away from the path. “I thought he’d be back by now.”

“We still have a few people we need to find. The farm’s got a plow to get us out, but the weather is looking pretty serious. Clint is out there rounding people up and he never gets lost.” Sensing Bucky’s unease, Bruce zipped up his coat, making the decision to help out. “I was planning on going out to look as well. Want to come with?” 

“Yes, thank you, one sec.” Bucky grabbed the winter stuff Steve had left in the car so he wouldn’t freeze in the worsening weather. Together, they headed out in the direction Bucky indicated. 

They walked into the snow-covered trees, looking for foot prints, but even the ones Bucky had made fifteen minutes ago were gone. They really couldn’t see very far ahead, even using the flashlight Bruce had with him. Rounding a stand of pines, they spotted another light off to one side of the path. 

“Well, that didn’t take long.” Bruce smiled. 

Relief flooded Bucky’s system, as he let out a quick sigh and gave a silly grin. He had been worried for nothing, but as they moved closer, two figures came out of the snow, not just one.

The first had dark hair and was speaking animatedly to the second, who appeared to be making the light that he and Bruce had noticed. 

“Hey, we are closing up.” 

“Sure thing, I found the one I want anyway.” The guy said. The other figure raised its hand and a laser shot out of its palm, neatly felling the tree next to the man. Turned around to face them the man, who was wearing sunglasses for some reason, aimed a hundred-watt smile at them.

“Tony?” Bruce looked stunned, obviously recognizing him. “What are you doing out here?” 

“Bruce!” Tony exclaimed, taking off his sunglasses and walking over to hug the shocked man. “I didn’t know you were working here. I was looking for a tree.” He said as he gestured to the huge fallen pine. “And they say this place is the best.”

“But enough about me, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. Are you still working on anti-electron collisions?”

“No, but we are looking for someone.” 

“Have you seen Steve?” Bucky asked, finally gaining the attention of the man.

“I haven’t seen anyone but you guys out here.” He said, shaking his head and frowning. 

“Shit,” Bucky mumbled under his breath. Tony could see the disappointment in the other’s face. Motioning to his Ironman suit to drag the tree back, he faced them both with a much more genuine smile. 

“You know what, I’m in no rush. Let me help out.” He pulled out his cellphone and started typing.

“Cellphones don’t seem to work out here.” Bucky said, wishing it weren’t so. At any other time he would have just called Steve to find out where he was.

“Maybe regular ones don’t, but that’s the nice thing about building your own tech.” Tony bragged, as he connected easily to the internet and pulled up a GPS map and an almost blinding light on his phone.

Heading back out to the path together, they continued their search. The next thing they heard ring through the silence, was a booming laugh and chatter as a new light was spotted in the distance. 

“Clint?” Bruce yelled.

“Bruce, is that you?” Out of the snow walked another two people; Clint and a tall blonde man who was unfortunately not Steve. 

“See you found a couple more people. Are we ready to head back?” Clint asked Bruce.

“We are still looking for someone.”

“Steve was bringing in our tree, but he took too long to show up. He must have gotten turned around when the snow started to really come down.” 

“I saw what looked like a tree drag a ways back, heading toward the parking lot, but it was pretty blown-in. I figured whoever it was would be there by now. There’s no one further out. I already made a complete sweep.”

“Tis true,” the man next to him said. “We are looking for my brother Loki as well. It was his idea to come here. He said being in a forest at winter with family was a Midgardian tradition, but then vanished the second I looked away. Seems it was more of his mischief.”

“This is Thor, by the way.” Clint said, gesturing to the man with him.

“Well, at least meeting you here shows he was not entirely lying to me.” Thor seemed in an extremely good mood for being ditched by his brother.

“Maybe we should all turn back.” Bruce suggested.

“No doubt Loki has made his way to the entrance. I do not think it is possible for my brother to be lost. I simply wish he would not disappear the second I turn my back.”

Bucky nodded to Bruce. With the time they had spent looking for him and with Clint seeing tracks headed back, Steve was probably at the car waiting on him now.

\----------

After cleaning up the few broken branches that chopping down the tree had produced, Steve grabbed the trunk of the Christmas tree and set off in the direction Bucky had left. There were a few faint footprints the snow hadn’t covered, but as Steve’s mind wandered to how nice and warm Bucky’s clothes were and how silly he’d been to leave his in the car, he realized he was off the path. 

He was surprised by this lapse, but he was sure he couldn’t be too far off. As Steve continued to drag the tree behind him, the snowstorm got worse to the point where he couldn’t tell in what direction he was headed and he was very sure he’d overshot his destination.

He saw someone ahead of him on the path. It wasn’t Bucky, but anyone who could point him in the right direction would be welcome.

“Hello,” Steve hollered, waving a hand to a woman with bright red hair that was mostly covered by a fur-trimmed hat. She stopped and watched him as he approached. “I don’t suppose you could point me in the direction of the parking lot?” Steve asked, setting down the tree. “I’m Steve, by the way.” He grinned and held out a hand to shake; she took it.

“Natasha,” she said, with a small upturn to the corner of her mouth. “I just came from there, but I’m looking for one of the people who works here. Have you seen Bruce?” After describing him a little, Steve remembered seeing a man near the shack, helping people lash trees to the roofs of cars. 

“Yes, I did see him, but that was before Bucky and I had picked out our tree.”

“I’m here to pick up Bruce, but no one was around when I drove in.” 

“Probably making sure there’s no one left out in this snow. It’s easy to get turned around out here” Steve laughed, gesturing at himself.

“Want to walk back together? It’s still a bit of a trek to the edge of the grove.” 

“Sounds good to me.” Steve said, smiling as he picked the tree back up and followed Natasha.

Walking together through the evergreens they exchanged small talk, until Natasha held up a hand, signaling for Steve to stop. Holding a finger to her lips she moved past the nearest tree and Steve saw what had made her stop.

Standing in the small clearing they had just entered, a man stood with eyes closed and face tipped to the sky. He was dressed very nicely in a three-piece suit, wool overcoat and a green scarf. He had an odd aura around him and looked totally impervious to the cold, without gloves or hat. 

Loki realized there were two people staring at him and he could tell Thor had made his way back out of the forest. It had been a treat to watch his brother fumble through the woods but he’d had his fun. Opening vividly green eyes, he looked over to where they stood.

“Hello, are you headed back to the entrance?” he questioned, assessing the two who had stumbled upon him.

“Yes, we are.” The man replied, when the woman declined to answer.

“Do you mind if I travel with?” He was perfectly fine tagging along with them, though he could get to the entrance much faster with magic. They would be a good buffer if, for some reason, Thor was upset with his prank.

Now a group of three, they exited the trees minutes later to see a small cluster of people gathered, discussing something at the tree stand. 

Steve spotted Bucky in the group talking to the others, his face stony with concentration and concern. 

“Hey, Buck.” Steve hollered, leaning the tree up against their car. Hearing his name, Bucky whipped around and his eyes landed on Steve immediately.

“Steve!” he shouted, already running across the snowy parking lot. They hugged tight and then Bucky pulled back and thumped a closed fist against Steve’s chest. “What the hell happened?” he asked, “You had me worried.”

“Sorry, got a little ... ” Steve started, then he saw the incredulous look Bucky gave him and changed his answer. “Okay, a lot lost.” Steve laughed, kissing a disgruntled Bucky on the nose. 

Natasha and Loki went to join the other group. Clint greeted Natasha before he turned to Bruce, who had been talking to Tony until Bucky brought their attention to the new people. 

“I guess the holidays really do bring people together.” Natasha smiled at Bruce’s disbelief.

“Clint told me you could use a lift. I should have known I’d find you working in the middle of nowhere.” 

Loki walked over to stand next to Thor, who clapped him hard on the back, beaming. “Found you.” Loki just shook his head, appearing put-upon. 

After everything had settled down, Bruce helped lash Bucky and Steve’s Christmas tree to the SUV.

“Guess it’s about time for us all to head out.” 

Bucky grabbed Steve by the arm, making meaningful eye contact with him. “We should invite everyone, as a thank you.” Steve considered the idea for a second.

“They’re a good bunch of people,” He said, nodding “I think it would be nice.” Bucky smiled and turned to everyone, grabbing their attention.

“We are very appreciative for all your help, especially in this weather.” The group laughed, observing each other’s rosy faces. “Steve and I would love for you all to come over to our place for an early Christmas party this weekend. Dinner, music and christening the new fireplace all included.”

“Sounds great, as long as I can bring my family and homemade sugar cookies.” Clint said.

“I make a mean eggnog” Natasha threw in.

“And you guys obviously need better cellphones, so no one gets lost in a blizzard again.” Tony teased. 

“I’ll make the snacks as long as you two plan on having the meal.” Bruce offered.

“I would be happy to come and partake in the food and festivities. What do you say, brother?” Thor enunciated.

“Well, since it seems you are determined to go, I will bring some entertainment. Party games will at least keep thing interesting.” Loki said, looking resigned, but an eager spark shown in his eye.

Everyone hopped into their vehicles and followed the plow, driven by Clint, out to the main road. All headed in different directions, waving each other off with Merry Christmases and see-you-soons.


End file.
